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tv   ABC News Good Morning America  ABC  March 12, 2011 7:00am-8:00am PST

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the evacuation zone, has been doubled. tens of thousands of people now getting out. smoke is billowing and japanese media outlets say there's radioactive material in the air. >> it could be nuclear disaster on top of natural disaster. the devastating earthquake and tsunami, the death toll expected to climb. now the race is on to rescue
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those trapped in the rubble. thousands unaccounted for including many americans. christiane amanpour and a team of our reporters are in the earth quake zone. and there are fear this morning of a possible nuclear meltdown in japan. this is video of a massive explosion of a nuclear power plant just hours ago. and japanese media now reporting that it blew the roof of the building that houses the reactor. but the government spokesman said the metal container that shelters the reactor are not affected and radiation levels around the plant are actually dropping which if true would be hopeful news. >> yes, if true. we should stress that. despite the fact the government officials are trying to reduce the fear level. they've expanded the evacuation zone around the plant from 6 miles to 12 miles. check out this picture, gas
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masks, an indication just how serious things are near the reactor site. those who cannot leave are told to stay inside and to cover all of the openings to their homes with wet towels and not drink the tap water. this is the plane we're talking about. the plane was damaged in the earth quake that hit japan. the quake and tsunami left behind a truly, truly wasteland of broken roads, washed out homes and cars. the japanese foreign minister calling it a crisis of unprecedented proportion. >> just terrifying images. we want to tell you that more than 125 powerful aftershocks have rattled the region, including one that measured 6.1 an hour ago. the official death toll is at least 574 with more than 700 missing and more than 100 injured. those numbers are expected to climb and japan's prime minister is sending 50,000 troops to help with the rescue efforts, president obama is pledging american assistance. one usair craft carrier is in
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japan and a second heading there now. and we have a team of correspondents covering every angle of this historic disaster. we'll start this morning with christiane amanpour who is in tokyo. she's got the latest on this potential nuclear disaster. i under the prime minister came out not long ago, he seems to, as i said, reduce the fear level here? >> reporter: exactly. it's obviously night time here in japan. all day they've been working on this reactor and trying to assess the cause of this explosion and extent of what happened there. the prime minister came out on television and one of the first things he said was for people to remain calm, saying the safety of those people around the reactor is of, quote, utmost priority to the government. they are saying now that the reactor itself is in tact and that radiation levels coming down. earlier, after that explosion, some four, five hours ago, reports were that levels were eight times higher than they should be outside and the radiation level, a thousand
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times higher than is normal inside there. dan. >> and with the government going on television and trying to tell people not to panic, what is your sense about whether it's working? >> reporter: well, as i say, we are quite a distance away from there. but people who we've spoken to from the tokyo area, for instance, have said this was an earthquake of five minutes in duration, they've never experienced anything like that. the roads around tokyo are jammed. we've been trying to access people in areas, and it's taking a long, long time just to get people from tokyo to us. trying to get towards the earthquake area. is just as bad if not worse. roads are damaged and with this nuclear potential catastrophe on top of that. this is causing people here to have a higher degree of fear as you can well imagine. >> we're hearing reports that those five minutes felt like a lifetime for those frightened in japan. christiane, thank you for that. we want to turn now to ron claiborne who has a look at how
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close that quake was to major cities in japan. >> good morning you to. here's a look at the area affected, the fukushima nuclear power plant is in north eastern japan. that's where the explosion occurred. 150 miles from the capital of tokyo and 20 miles from the tenth largest city in japan, iwaki with a population of 350,000. there's also a second nuclear power plant also damaged southeast of that fukushima plant, that's the daini power plant and japanese officials declared states of imagine, five nuclear reactors affected, the explosion this morning blew the roof off the fukushima atomic plant, although the japanese government is saying the radiation in the area may actually be decreasing. however they expanded the
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evacuation from a 6 mile radius from the fukushima power plant to 12 miles. right now the weather is calm with winds headed away from shore, out to sea but a storm system is headed into the area monday, which could carry the winds back toward major cities like tokyo, and, dan and bianna, that obviously would not be a good development. >> thank you, the wind is a huge variable in this crisis. >> we want to put this all into perspective. we want to turn to dr. michio kaku. the latest news we're hearing from japanese officials that the metal container sheltering the reactor is in fact. if that's the case, how much of a relief is that? >> the structure, that houses it. blew apart. it's only a metal skeleton because of a steam, hydrogen, gas explosion. but, here's the but, the metal vessel inside the building is in tact. that's the good news if that metal structure containing hot uranium is damaged, you're talking about a full scale chernobyl accident. you're talking about evacuating
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the entire province, talking about worrying about radioactive steam coming into the sky. but it's on a knife's edge. anything can tip it over. remember the building is destroyed but the vessel is in tact. >> when you drop a word like chernobyl it is very scary to a lot of people. let me ask you this. martha raddatz is reporting this morning that there are some fears in the american government that perhaps the japanese government is playing down the level of danger here. do you think that's a possibility? >> definite possibility. it's happened in the past on a number of occasions. we've had nuclear accidents in the japanese industry because they're heavily nuclearized. each time the industry poo poos the claims of environmentalists, each time it comes out much later that they low-balled the estimates of radiation and damage and injuries to workers. >> let's go back to the plant and that danger zone. if we pull up a map, showing the evacuation zone from 6 mile radius to 12 miles, in your opinion is that sufficient? >> i would go even further.
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right now, remember, it's stable. it's on a knife's edge, but it's still stable. evacuations went from 2 miles to 6 miles, now it's 12 miles. i think 20 miles would be good for a very cautious, prudent way of analyzing the crisis. but it does seem to be stable at least temporarily, but who knows. >> there are a lot of us that don't have a thorough understanding of the way nuclear reactors work. could you take us inside the core and explain what exactly, specifically is the danger here? >> the danger is that you have 12 feet of uranium, weighing 100 tons, about 100 cars worth. very hot, being cooled by water inside a metal vessel. that, in turn, is contained in an entire containment structure of the building. that building blew apart. sent all the world's media, gigantic plumes of smoke and steam coming out but the vessel is in tact. the question is, this is the $64,000 question, is the vessel
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exposing the core as the water levels begin to drop. that's the question, because then the core starts to disintegrate and it could explode, rupturing the vessel, like what happened at chernobyl. >> then there's also an issue of cooling the core, too. it's not just the building that houses it. it's getting enough water there to cool the core. >> think about a car when the radiator blows up. you want to get as much water as possible but the radiator mechanism stalled. in the united states, some people worry the radiation cloud will come over their homes. we're not talking about radiation coming from japan over the united states. but that design of a reactor in japan, the general electric mach 1 boiler reactor is also common in the united states. >> dr. kaku, we appreciate your time and inside this morning. thank you for joining us. meanwhile, that earthquake that hit japan friday afternoon was one of the biggest reported. take a look at this video,
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massive waves, coming over the banks of the village and washing away the entire time. you can see horrified onlookers on a suspension bridge right above as the water surges through the streets. one scene, the massive swath of destruction along japan's north eastern coast. and dave muir is in tokyo with the latest on that. good morning, david. >> reporter: bianna, extraordinary pictures you speak of. as you know, the team arrive here in tokyo this morning. one of the first things i did, walking through the tokyo airport was to talk to some of the people from japan here. all in the terminal. eyes fixed on state television as they focus on the nuclear developments, fukushima and the nuclear power plant. this, after that tsunami, the earth quake and many people here are earthquake veterans. one man shaking his head, telling me he's never seen anything like this. they are the lucky ones, tsunami survivor, some took from helicopters from roof tops. this child taken away in a rescuer's eyes. others fled in their bare feet. this man said he escaped water
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that came up to his neck. there's so many more waiting to be rescued. 1300 miles of coastline covered by an epic trail of destruction. ships tossed. cars thrown on top of buildings all part of that deadly twin disaster that struck friday afternoon. >> this is like the real thing. this is the real thing. >> reporter: beginning with an earthquake, so massive it moved the entire island eight feet to the east. >> skyscrapers nearby were swaying like trees in the wind. >> reporter: trains shook on their tracks. american, marty was near the epicenter in sendai. >> this went on forever. everything was toppling and falling. >> reporter: then came round two, the three-story wall of water washing everything in its path, traveling six miles inland in some place, and 24 hours later, people here are still fearing more. 200,000 are living in temporary shelters. there are reports of three
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missing japanese trains, along with a ship swept away by the waves. fires raging up and down the coast and more than a million households without water. american ryan mcdonald lived witnessed it all. >> oh, my god. he took this video in sendai as it struck. now he's telling us he's running low on food. >> the only other thing i have in the house is this half thing of tomato sauce, which i'm going to make that work somehow. >> reporter: even japanese television hosts wear hard hats on the air. meanwhile on the ground and water rescuers continue their race to find more survivors. rescuers, as you know, bianna, it's night time here. we're well ahead of threw in new york. as soon as the sun comes up, those rescue begin in earnest. still searching for people who might be dropped in all of that mud and debris, bianna. >> and another challenge is continuing that search. in the midst of these aftershocks, we reported one in the last hour, measuring 6.1. could you tell us what that felt
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like? >> yes, we're here at the hotel not far from the airport in tokyo. everyone felt it inside the hotel. i can tell you, when we checked in. there are three elevator bays that are common in hotels like this. they are only allow us to use one elevator precisely for that mean. these aftershocks which have continued, adds nothing but fear, particularly when you see the people watching state television so closely and now dealing with these aftershocks coming every day here. >> and seeing these buildings rattled. thank you so much, david, and please stay safe. dan. the city of sendai was hit hardest by this earthquake and tsunami. it is on the coast, 80 miles from the epicenter of the quake. our clarissa ward is trying to get there this morning. she joins us from the road to sendai. clarissa, i under you're about 100 mile as way. what are you seeing on the road? >> reporter: good morning. it's been an epic journey even trying to get here.
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we were diverted through three different cities. we've been traveling for more than 26 hours and we have now reached a point just less than 100 miles to the city of sendai. what's the most striking thing, when you look around here, the roads seem fine, the buildings look fine. there's electricity. but another 50 miles down the road. that is all expected to change when we get to a town called yamagata. which is being described as sort of the last frontier, an area people are coming in and regrouping and using as a staging ground before they go on to the affected areas. >> as you've gone through this epic journey, to use your term, have you seen a lot of people trying to get out of the area, and have you seen fear on the facials of the people you've met? >> we have seen a lot of cars coming and going, it's impossible to say whether they are fleeing the area. but the people we've talked to are certainly very, very frightened. our driver, for example, told us he never felt anything like it in his life. he said literally the ground is moving for five minutes.
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now he's confronted with these apocalyptic images on his television set. obviously, it's incredibly frightening for people here. >> clarissa ward, thank you for your reporting, good luck on the rest of your journey and please stay safe. >> thank you. of course as we know, the tsunami was felt here in this country as well. >> that's right. the earthquake sent the tsunami racing across the pacific ocean at 500 miles an hour, heading straight towards the west coast of this country. crescent city, california was one of the hardest-hit areas. there's real damage there and at least one person still unaccounted for. let's go to clayton sandell who has the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, bianna. the government has declared a state of emergency in several northern california counties. you can see why. the waves just destroyed this harbor, taking out the docks and piles boats on top of one another. and these waves have also become deadly, taking the life of one
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25-year-old man, brandon weber, who was swept out to sea. the waves came fast. unleashed in a blast of energy that powered across the pacific. four tsunami waves hit hawaii, causing minor damage before pushing through the darkness with the speed of a jetliner, headed straight for the west coast. in northern california and oregon coastal town, sirens warned thousands to evacuate. >> my house might not be here. i'm sorry. >> reporter: people who missed the sirens, got a reminder from the sheriff to get out. in southern california, lifeguards closed the beaches. >> my husband told us to wait up on high ground. but here we are right at the beach front. >> reporter: but up and down the coast, some people ignored the warnings. >> i've been surfing here for 50 years, so i felt that i had to try this. >> reporter: near crescent city, california, three people were taking pictures of the waves when they were swept off a sand
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bar. two made it to safety. but despite a coast guard search, a 25-year-old man drown. in santa cruz, boats were tossed by strong surges, causing $2 million in damage. in crescent city, waves six to eight feet high damaged boats. most of the docks destroyed. for this town, the fear of killer waves, rekindled memories of a major tsunami that struck here in 1964. >> nobody knew it was geeing to come in like that. >> reporter: the town was nearly destroyed, a dozen people died. today, officials say the city is far better prepared. now, keep in mind, we are 4500 miles away from japan, so that should give you an idea the force and energy behind the waves that caused all this destruction. and since we've been here this morning, we're still seeing surges of 4 to 6 feet in this area. which explains why there is
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still a tsunami advisory in effect. dan. >> ands it 4500 mile as way. we do have breaking news at home. a horrific bus crash. >> this was a bus returning from a casino east of new york in connecticut. the bus apparently hit a large sign post on interstate 95 in the bronx. it flipped on its side. the top was sliced off as you see there. at least 13 people were killed. rescue workers inside the wreck ajs, trying to extricate people. some 31 people were on the bus returning from that casino. and police at this point are trying to talk to a tractor trailer driver. they're seeking to speak to him. we're not sure what the details, this is, as you say, a horrific accident in new york city. >> you can see how huge the because is. you can see the search crew trying to take people out. just devastating. ron, thank you, i know we'll follow that story. meantime we want to turn to weather and meteorologist
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stephanie roberts from the tampa affiliate. good morning. >> good morning. we still have major flooding concerns across the northeast. what we're seeing in northern new jersey, where we have seen the saddle and pompton rivers crest. but the passaic river still expected to crest later on today. obviously, folks still having trouble getting around and having to use boats. >> better news across the northeast. pretty wintry. another system moving across there. kicking up a lost wind. it's gusty in minneapolis. where it will only be 32. we keep our eyes and concerns on the west coast where high surf will continue to be a problem. that's what's happening across the country.
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bianna and dan. >> stephanie, thank you. coming up on "good morning america," the desperate search for the missing amid all this devastation. we'll hear from families holding out hope for their loved ones. >> also coming up much more from inside the quake zone itself. keep it here on "gma" for live coverage throughout the morning. i have what science calls the "nightly stuffy nose thing": i can't breathe... so i can't sleep... and the next day i pay for it. i tried decongestants... i tossed & turned... i even vaporized! and then i fought back: with drug-free breathe right advanced.
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and that is the explosion that tore through a nuclear power plant in japan this morning. the walls and roof destroyed in the blast. smoke billowing out of the plant 20 miles from one of japan's largest city. >> not the kind of picture you want to see. the japanese government is now saying, however, that the metal containers that shelter the reactor, that container is not affected. the government also claims that radiation levels around the plant are now actually dropping but it has doubled the evacuation zone around plant and it is urging people to get out of there. most of the 50,000 people who live in the danger zone have already been evacuated this morning and we are address
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aggressively covering all of the news out of japan on "gma" this morning. and breaking news, sad breaking news the death toll is more than 900, more than 700 people missing and 1100 are missing. those numbers are expected to climb. japan's prime minister sending some 50,000 troops to help with the efforts and president obama is pledging american assistance. one aircraft carrier is now in japan with a second on the way. we start with the potential nuclear disaster. christiane amanpour just landed in tokyo. i understand, christiane, that the japanese prime minister came out and said the situation may not be as bad as feared. can you fill us in what he is saying? >> reporter: dan this is where it's difficult. there are so many conflicting reports, and they change from hour to hour. we've been here four hours now, since we landed about the time of the explosion and initial reports where there were leakages of radioactive material
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in that steam and vapor that was escaping. 8 times normal outside. 1,000 times inside. then the last couple hours the prime minister has been on, including his spokesman as well on television, saying, in fact, radiation is coming down. then, yet another conflicting report from a electrical company, which is saying, according to their measurements, radiation is still high and going up. so it is incredibly difficult to know exactly what is going on from our vantage point and that, confusion, is what is adding to frankly the fear factor here about what is going to be the potential fallout from this on top of that huge earthquake that struck more than 24 hours ago now. >> as you said, it's incredibly confusings. to throw one more monkey wrench in. abc new, martha raddatz reported that the american officials japanese are playing this down as a pr move.
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i wonder what your thoughts are of that potential? >> certainly, that is what we've heard from analysts outside of japan, and all i can tell you from here is that reports are changing. and therefore, we have not got the accurate information that we would hope to get. the thing is, we are not experts ourselves. we are not up there. we don't have the measurements, equipment to know what's going on. obviously, we can't get there. it's way too dangerous. they are saying nobody within a 20 kilometer, or 12 to 13 mile radius should be in that area. they told people to get out of the area or stay home. so this confusion is adding to the fear factor. >> christiane, you reported, we are reporter, not expert on this matter. but we want to turn to an expert. the author of "the bomb scare in the history of nuclear weapons."
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he is joining us from abc. what do you make of the information coming out saying radiation is decreasing, the reactor is in tact. what do you make of this confusion? >> christiane puts her finger on it. we've had conflicting reports basically since the crisis started. and it doesn't serve the purpose that the government, or the power company, actually intends, by downplaying the threats. they've been heightening suspicions, because events have unfolded and proved to be more ominous, more grim than their pronouncements of just a few hours earlier. let's hope this time that they're right. that they do in deed have increased control over the reactor. we should know if they've been able to stabilize the ways or not. >> what does it do for the situation, the fact that we continue to see these massive aftershocks? >> what you have in this crisis, unlike chernobyl or three mile island, the other two major
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nuclear crises in nuclear power construction history, is structural damage to the buildings themselves. and not just these building, there are 11 power reactors out of the 55 reactors in japan. 11 of them have been knocked out by the earthquake in the tsunami. five of them have emergencies declared around them. evacuation zones and emergency conditions. this one we're focused on right now is critical. we don't yet know the extent of the structural damage. are there cracks that we haven't been able to detect. can the pressure be maintained inside the containment vessels? aftershocks, expose new fissures, this whole crisis is very much on the edge. i'm telling you, this is the nuclear power industry's worst nightmare. they've already written -- they're on verge of convincing us it's safe to go back to the nuclear power. now we lose control of one,
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maybe more nuclear reactors. i'm telling you the cost of nuclear power construction has just spiked. >> that's right. 20% of the u.s. powered nuclear energy as well. a lot of concern there's. we have to leave it with you there. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> we want to take a look at the human component. people are leaping to their computers trying to contact relatives and friends in japan. more than 52,000 records this morning of people leaving messages related to the disaster on google's person finder service. hundreds of messages in english and japanese every few minutes now. david muir, the answer of "weekend world news," landed in tokyo, where so many people are trying to find their family and friends. david? good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. it's excruciating 24 hours for those trying to find loved ones, as we were coming in from tokyo on the plane north of here where the earthquake did most of the damage, you could see the smoke rising to the air.
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we went over one area where there is thick, black, billowing smoke. you can understand why communications are not what they need to be for families getting to touch with loved ones. some families getting in once but not getting a follow-up. as you'll hear here. >> oh, my god. what the -- >> the devastating earth quake and tsunami that followed took this entire country by surprise. this man is 19 years old. born in kentucky, studying in tokyo. he filmed the quake, while taking shelter underneath his desk. >> everything was shaking. felt like a wrestler was grabbing me and shaking me back and forth. >> reporter: conam grames is a missionary based in japan. he's lived here for 15 years. lived through countless earthquakes, but he's seen nothing like this. >> i never saw anything like this. this had everybody in a panic. the tsunami backed up to the rivers, the rivers overflowed and it was an incredibly dark, black, muddy water with a lot of
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debris, it picked up boats on the way, turned over boats, washed cars, was carriage car, and in some cases, was carrying houses. >> reporter: all across the globe, people are trying to get through to loved ones here in japan. daniel is an engineer, who works at the new troubled fukushima reactor plant, the one getting so much attention now. he's been there the last month. his family back in louisiana now worried sick. dan was able to get in touch with his wife jane, friday morning, but jane has not heard from him since. >> i haven't spoken to him again. i don't know if they have supplies. i have no idea where they are at. >> reporter: maria alvarez has not heard from her son. omar. who lives in sendai, near the epicenter of the quake. >> i don't know how bad it is. my son was telling me that one time that he spoke with him, that he felt it was the end of him, and he was saying good-bye
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to him. >> reporter: so the wait continues for so many of these families. dan, when you get that update from fukushima this morning that they've expanded the radius to 20 kilometers. you can imagine not just the folks in sendai but further south where the nuclear reactor are, are going to try to reach out to loved ones not only in japan but in the states and that number on the computer will rise exponentially as this day goes on. >> indeed they will. david muir, thank you very much for your reporting morning. >> we want to return to weather and stephanie roberts from our affiliate in tampa. we for got we have a time change tonight. >> we certainly do. we spring forward, but the mad news, we lose an hour of sleep, but gain a day of daylight. don't forget. we don't want to forget about the wildfires, they've caused a lot of damage. dozens of homes have been destroyed. we have better news for some
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southern plains. the red flag conditions. warm temperature, 82 this afternoon, san antonio, 79, dallas, it will be warm across the south as well. this weather report has been brought to you by chase slate. dan, bianna. stephanie, thank you. >> coming up we talk to a reporter in sendai. hstephanie, thank you. >> coming up we talk to a reporter in sendai. to what i'll actually be doing. so in the rest of my life i like control. especially in my finances. that's why i have slate with blueprint. i can make a plan to pay off everyday things and avoid interest,
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sir, can you just tell us what you're seeing? i know it's night there. now, how bad is the damage you're seeing? >> we're still a little south of sendai. what you can see, there is extensive damage especially on the roads, building, surroundings. there's -- the traveling has been difficult, because some of the roads are going to be closed off going to the hardest-hit areas, especially near the coast. >> and the people are running into, what are you seeing on their faces? >> so far, the people are very resilient. >> the serious problem is there is a shortage of food and water. i think for now people have ample supply. if this runs day two, day three, without additional supplies, this could get to be a messy situation. >> as you know, the visuals of the damage are terrific. hard to absorb the scale of it.
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what are you hearing about the number of deaths possibly in that area? >> reporter: yeah, we're not sure about the exact number. i think that's part of the problem. it's really hard to identify really who is missing, and how do you define someone is missing, whether you just can't reach them on the phone, because phone lines are down all over the place. it's really hard to grab people. but we're hearing -- i guess right now, the total is something around the ballpark of 1400. that media is reporting, and, you know, with the number missing could definitely be much, much higher than that. >> and the key question is, whether there was enough advance warning, i know japan has an advance warning system that's the envy of the world. i imagine that's the key question in terms of how -- were people able to get out of there? >> i'm pretty sure that there wasn't enough time for people to really evacuate. people could probably -- you know, if you were inside your home, maybe you could take
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cover, you could limit the damage that happened, but to think that you could evacuate in a minute notice is unrealistic. >> i guess that is probably through. daisuke wakabayashi from the wall street journal. we really appreciate your time. please stay safe as you continue in your travels. and coming up what happens when tokyo, one of the largest city on earth, grinds to a halt. in my life, i don't have time for allergies
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oh, yeah. v8 juice gives you 3 of your 5 daily servings of vegetables. v8. what's your number? that monster earthquake brought the gleaming high tech met drop list of tokyo to a standstill. highways closed.
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planes, trains and subways stopped. ron is covering this. let us now how they're dealing with it. >> there is probably no town more prepared for a major earth quake than tokyo. construction standards are some of the strictest in the world. japanese children do drills at a very young age. all of that preparation likely saved a lot of lives friday. but it is also a city heavily dependent on modern technology. and this brought it to a standstill. a typical day looks like this. home to 13 million people. crowds walking the street, packed train cars. hundreds of skyscraper, a modern manic metropolis. all brought to a frightening standstill by the 8.9 earthquake, rocking this city and its people. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: take a look at this video of subway trains during the quake. above ground a wave of uncertainty fell over the throngs in the streets then grid
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lock, highways, airports, train stations. millions of people left paralyzed in the nation's capital as over 100 aftershocks rattled the city. with all of the trains and subways shut down, commuters patiently waited in line for taxi, while some others set out on foot, desperately trying to get home. those who were stranded, took up camp wherever they could with makeshift sleeping bags. chaos could have ensued but the japanese took this disaster with incredible ease. a characteristic of japanese culture. >> they were extremely calm and trying to go about their business. many shops that we passed were still open, still doing business. it was only much afterwards that we really recognized the magnitude of what had occurred. >> reporter: a disaster that shook, but did not break, the spirit of the city. and another big problem with cell service was pretty much knocked out. it was overwhelmed in tokyo so that many of the people stranded
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in the city, had no way of letting their loved ones know how they were or where they were. >> as you said an earthquake of this magnitude, any other country would most likely level it. ron, thank you, we'll be right back. it. who says credit card rewards can't be simple? i mean they're rewards, right? right? right. with the bankamericard cash rewards™ credit card... i get 1% cash back on every purchase. 1% cash back on groceries. highlights. frog leg green. 1% cash back on... whatever that is?
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and we want to thank you again for watching abc news. of course, for all of the latest on the disafter in japan, we're always online at abcnews.com. >> and david muir will have much more on "world news" later tonight and christiane amanpour will have a special "this week" from the quake zone tomorrow morning. thank you for joining ounce the saturday morning. stay with abc news all day long. good morning, a tsunami advisory still in effect after japan's devastating earthquake. let's go to frances dinglasan.
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>> we're still about one to two feet above normal sea level. we're going to see a lot of cloudy conditions. let's get to the tsunami advisory. waves can be strong, the currents can be strong, as well. do look out for that. you want to avoid the beaches if you can. stay out of the water and again the greatest risk is in the harbor and marina. here is a look at what you can expect today. partly cloudy, daylight saving time begin on sunday morning at 2:00 a.m. light rain for sunday afternoon, as well. we have this system that is going to bring tomorrow and we have an active pattern through next week. also what you can expect for today, here is the forecast model basically we have a lot of cloud cover and then areas of
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green, that is the rain, doesn't move in until about lunchtime in the north bay and spreads south as you make your with a way through the bay area southeast. rain through sunday. temperatures for today, near normal, 60 in san francisco, 62 in oakland, 64 in concord also san jose. mid-60s through gilroy and hollister. low 60s around watsonville and monterey. accu-weather seven-day forecast, move your clocks forward an hour. rain is expected throughout northeast day and then periods of rain through the workweek with temperatures in the 60s. janelle? >> next at 8:00, large amounts of radiation spews out of a japanese power station after a plant explosion. a cleanup at the santa cruz harbor where the tsunami caused millions of dollars in damage yesterday.
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